Lately, Global Crossing
has been hot. This week, the company was able to sell its Web
hosting division, GlobalCenter, for $6.5 billion.
Next week? Well, the company plans to spin-off
Asia Global
Crossing. By all accounts, it looks like a Top A deal. Goldman Sachs
is the lead underwriter and the price range is $14-$16, with a whopping 62.2
million shares to be issued. The ticker symbol has yet to be announced.
Asia Global Crossing wants to live up to its name, as it plans to create the
first pan-Asian telecom carrier to provide data, voice, Web hosing and
Internet services to business customers. The network will have everything:
city fiber rings, backhaul connections, subsea cables …
The company is a joint venture. Partners include such biggies as Microsoft,
Softbank and, of course, Global Crossing.
Expect the guts of the network to be online by the end of 2001 and, as a
result, expect the company to be a hot IPO next week.
Another hot one should be
Oplink
Communications. The lead underwriter is Robertson Stephens and the
price range is $10-$12 (the company plans to issue 13.7 million shares).
The proposed ticker symbol is OPLK.
The company develops equipment that allows fiber optic systems to run much
better. Applications include: wavelength expansion (huge amounts of data
can travel through multiple wavelengths of light); optical amplication
(optical signals can be amplified without the need to enhance signals
electronically); wavelength performance monitoring and protection (this
manages the direction of light signals by analyzing wavelength performance
within an optical network); and optical switching (this allows for
redirection of light signals to multiple points without the need to convert
signals into electrical ones).
Got that? Well, it is heady stuff, but also in heavy demand. The company
has been able to sign on clients like Cisco, Corning, NEC, Nortel, Lucent,
JDS Uniphase, Sycamore Networks and Alcatel Optronics.
Of course, the companys financials have been growing nicely. In the first
nine months ending March 31, 2000, the company had sales of $20.6 million,
which compares to $5.2 million in the same period a year ago.
